The Moorish Idol Thread

maybe they are a larval defence mechanism? i thought this when they first came in as the one with spines does look young but is still bigger than the original moorish we have in the shop so i threw that idea out the window but it could be possible.

another mystery to add to the moorish idol primer.
 
Just to let you all know the cheek spines appear to be receding, i will keep an eye on this but they were certainly smaller today.

Maybe this is a juvenile trait and this one was a bit late at maturing. very interesting indeed.

Had to split the idols up into separate tanks as they were becoming increasingly aggressive to one another.

The large display is now no more as we are getting one of the tanks used in the first mission impossible film, where Tom Cruise is in the restaurant and throws the explosive gum onto the tank. we are getting that tank, measures 6ft long by 5ft high by 4.5ft wide.

this is going to be sweeeet, i will create a post and keep a log on its progress. so keep an eye out.
 
Hi folks, just wanted to chime in with my experience with my Moorish Idol. I actually saw one in a LFS that's not known for quality or a high level of husbandy 'skillz' and bought it because it's always been my favorite fish, I thought I could find a way to get him eating, and he just looked miserable ;)

My tank contains some fairly mild mannered fish (Copperband, sailfin, neon goby, randall goby, anthias, rabbitfish) so I thought there weren't any turf disputes, but as a precaution, segmented my tank (95gl) with some netting to keep the MI separate from the rest. Did this for almost 3 days. On the second day I tried putting small quantities of different foods to see what he'd nip at. He was ignoring all of my sponge growing on my LR, but I tried everything from small and large mysis, brine, forumla 2, pellets, chopped uncooked prawns, and used clips of nori and red algae with and without garlic flavor additive. in the end, he went for the red algae w/garlic BUT ONLY when rubberbanded to a rock and placed on the sand. After he murdered a few sheets over the next few days I removed the netting, and he started eating everything else with the rest of the fish. Now, fast forward several months, and he's eat a ham sandwich if I gave him one. ;)

I do have a mix of SPS and LPS and was taking a chance with the MI. I was ready to trade stuff away if he went on a 'murderous coral rampage', but to this day he only nips at my rose monti cap, but hardly damages it. At worst, he gives the edge of it an interesting ragged look, but it grows pretty quickly so it's all good.

The last thing is that, while it's never shown any signs of ich or other maladies, he did frequent the neon goby's cleaning station A LOT. Actually, he he still likes the pampering on a daily basis (metrosexual, perhaps?) and is the goby's most frequent customer.

Someone else in this thread mentioned that his MI would swim in the corner of the tank when the lights would start dimming. Mine would as well and it did look like a bit of distress, but it never seemed too bad, and it stopped after the first week or so.

Anyways, there's my two pesos. HOpefully I can keep the MI happy for years cause it's definitely my favortite.

Cheers folks!
 
Here is a recent (poor) pic of my Moorish, showing how long its streamer is.

I have had it a little over 2 years now, and it survived a recent massive ich outbreak that took out my Achilles Tang, Emperor Angel, Majestic Angel, Asfur Angel, Scooter blenny, and Mandarin. All fish were sick, including the Idol, but I used copper and was able to save the Idol, Purple Tang and Blue Devil. Who says these fish aren't tough?

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I just got one 2 days ago and hes 6"+ from beak to tail.... Huge! Hes been eating nori and algae off the rocks since the LFS and i tried frozen but nada. Today i tried a littleneck clam and after a minute or so investigation, the MI devoured the clam!

Question: should i feed him one clam a day and nori throughout? Or two clams? Fyi hes got a slightly cloudy eye and minor case of ich but seems unaffected. I put selcon on his nori also. Hes the only real fish in my tank right now too.

Thanks
 
Still chomping on clams and nori today... Thru in some live blackworms but not interested.

Ideas? Should i do 2 clams a day? I did 2 yesterday and both were gone.
 
Keep trying a few pieces of chopped squid or mysis shrimp mixed on the half shell clams.Here's a video of me feeding my moorish:


 
Try lots of different things, just to keep it eating. Eventually, they will eat anything and everything. Now, after 2 years, mine is fed mostly spectrum pellets twice a day, and sheets of nori every few days or so. But it loves anything else I have ever tried to feed it. A very easy fish to feed, in my opinion. But when it was new, I had a couple of bouts with it not eating. Rod's food would always get it eating again. Also, feed it often. It would prefer to graze all day, in my experience.
 
+1 on NLS pellets. My Idol LOVES pellets. He is at the auto feeder about 2 minutes before it goes off everyday. I feed 3 times a day, twice with NLS and once with Rods. The Idol eats anything. I could probably throw a slice of pizza in the tank and it would be gone before it hit the bottom.

From my research I strongly believe the school of thought that NLS pellets have helped MI owners sustain them in captivity. IMO its a important diet to get them on, heck, any fish on.

As a side note, my Idol is now eating dictoya LOL. It (dictoya) has been in my tank for a few months now and has not gone away. I decided to borrow a baby Naso from a friend to chow down the dictoya. As soon as I put the Naso in the tank my Idol got curious and followed him around (they are about the same size and are the 2 biggest fish I have). My Idol likes to mimic the Naso and when he saw the Naso eating dictoya he started doing the same! Now they both swim around together and eat dictoya all day, its awesome!!!
 
djkms said:
As a side note, my Idol is now eating dictoya LOL. It (dictoya) has been in my tank for a few months now and has not gone away. I decided to borrow a baby Naso from a friend to chow down the dictoya. As soon as I put the Naso in the tank my Idol got curious and followed him around (they are about the same size and are the 2 biggest fish I have). My Idol likes to mimic the Naso and when he saw the Naso eating dictoya he started doing the same! Now they both swim around together and eat dictoya all day, its awesome!!!
Click to expand...

Mine used to eat byropsis. It didn't eat enough to get rid of it, but it would enjoy a big mouthful. When I got rid of my byropsis (finally) the Moorish Idol's banner quit growing. I began feeding Nori and the banner began growing again. I quit feeding Nori when I ran out, and the banner quit growing again. So, greens are definitely important to their diet.
 
Moorish idol

Moorish idol

http://youtu.be/QLthXwhwmto?hd=1

check out my MI, 4 years in captivity.

Feeding times: 3 times a day.

7:30 Spirulina flakes (Ocean Nutrition) or OSI spirulina
17:00 Mix of Mysis and Arthemia (Ocean Nutrition) or Cyclop-eeze
22:00 Prime Reef flakes (Ocean Nutrition) or sera marin GVG-mix

In the weekend an extra pice of Banana or avocado + Marine A, a sponge-like pellet (Hikari)

once a month a little pice of fresh garlic
 
Moorish Idol tank

Moorish Idol tank

Islander84 said:
member since 2003 and thats your first post! wow thats gotta be a record.! i would also like to know the diff.
Click to expand...

I've probably posted before, but it's been quite a few years since I've been very active in salt water. Still have a salt tank running whole time but had to downsize from my 170 to 60.

Okay, now for the tank specs...With that 60 gal tank, I have 1 skimmer, wet/dry setup with live rock (about ~60lbs I'd guess.) The tank has been established for about 2 1/2 yrs. Not much in it expect one cleaner shrimp and 3 or 4 hermits and one juvenile exporer angel (may about 3" or so.)

My question is would I be able to put a small Moorish Idol in there with the Emporer angel or is it too much in that tank? Woule the angel be too hostile since he's been alone in that tank for several months now?

When I had my 170 set up years ago, I successfully kept a Moorish Idol for about 2 yrs, from a small juvenile to pretty decent sized adult. Of course when I moved, the person I sold him too killed him...sigh....

So is it possible? I'm thinking of ordering one from Drs Foster Smith. It's been quite a few yrs since I've ordered fish from them but my reason would be because of their guarantee which I can't find anywhere close to that here.

Any replies greatly appreciated!
 
I would not put an Idol in a 60 gallon tank. They like to swim too much, and even a "small" Idol is fairly large. In fact, I would think the emperor will outgrow the tank within a year.
 
I "think" I'm also one of those mbrs that joined RC back in the day but lost my usrn & pswd...

Anyway I haven't read this gigantic thread but I'm guessing my sucess with MI is similar to others; I purchased a young healthy trio, back in the early 90's ...they ate Forumla Two and quickly out grew a 75G (back then some 75G had the same footprint as a 55G)...I eventually sold them to a LFS in Phx AZ

I used a DSB before it was called a DSB...(I 1st saw it in use in Las Vegas back in 91' at a LFS near Sunrise & Nellis Blvd)
 
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